Pre authorisation payments debit card
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metrobus
Posts: 1,784 Forumite
in Credit cards
I have recently had a pre authorisation payment hold on funds on a Nationwide debit card the retailer has done this by mistake but assures me the funds become available again after a certain amount of time.
I would have thought since this type of transaction is to make sure the seller of a service gets paid would if in event normal payment is not paid the funds go to the seller not the returned to the buyer (me)?
TIA
I would have thought since this type of transaction is to make sure the seller of a service gets paid would if in event normal payment is not paid the funds go to the seller not the returned to the buyer (me)?
TIA
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Comments
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The pre-authorisation is only to make sure you can afford to pay. It happens all the time, generally when the final amount isn't known as you present the card. A lot of pay at the pump machines, hotels and car-hire firms use it, for example. It usually disappears on its own about 3 days later.
You can end up with the pre-authorisation and the final amount being unavailable to you at the same time, which can cause difficulties for people. It doesn't go to the retailer though - it hasn't been removed from your account, only held against a future request.
Unless there is a charge for using them I always pay with a credit card, as I get a small amount of cashback.0 -
Pre auths tend to get released after 5 days however as nebulous states its more to do with ensuring funds are available then giving the merchant the funds.0
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I have recently had a pre authorisation payment hold on funds on a Nationwide debit card the retailer has done this by mistake but assures me the funds become available again after a certain amount of time.
I would have thought since this type of transaction is to make sure the seller of a service gets paid would if in event normal payment is not paid the funds go to the seller not the returned to the buyer (me)?
TIA
A case of the good, the bad and the ugly. The good is that the money will be be made available in your balance when the retailer has not claimed it. The bad is that the retailer will not claim it but your bank doesn't make it available in your balance. The ugly is that the retailer will enter a new sale so the you will pay what is owed for the new sale and the pre-authorised amount will still be reserved. Not so long ago ASDA did the latter with online shoppers.
Keep an eye on it and don't hesitate to complain to the bank and/ or retailer if necessary.0 -
I have paid the hotel in cash but still await the block to go off on the amount.
I have looked now into it and for a debit card it takes up to 8 days credit card up to 30 days for the block to go off.
The hotel says there is no way for them to remove the block although I have paid the bill in cash 5 days ago.
So does the retailer / service provider need to inform my bank that I have paid or needs to request the amount if I had not?0 -
If you paid 5 days ago then the pre-auth will drop off automatically in the next couple of days - it's probably up to 5 working days, which would translate to 7/8 calendar days, and you've probably only had 3 working days since the original transaction.0
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Hi guys, I have just seen your thread and wondered if there was solution for your issue would you spend time to use it?
I am currently looking for people that have experienced similar issues and wish to be part of this project development.
Please let me know if that is of interest to you.
Regards,
Nelson0 -
It all goes back to the days of manual imprinter machines and offline transactions.
For larger amounts, the cashier would ring up and give details of the proposed transaction. If the network is happy, then they'd give him/her an authorisation number. The amount would then be locked. The number is written on voucher, the card run through the imprinter, you sign. Eventually the merchant's copy gets taken to the bank and banked. The merchant is sure of getting the money. When the voucher with the authorisation is banked, the funds are debited and the lock released. The vast majority of transactions (by number if not value) were not pre-authorised.
This stopped people running up huge amounts in excess of their limits or in the case of stolen cards.
The world has gone online - but the system is still pretty much the same. There is still the same two-stage process. These days it's done automatically and applies to almost all transactions. It is only because you can check balances online that you notice this process.0 -
Why did you waste your time responding to a ridiculous post?chattychappy wrote: »It all goes back
In any case, the solution already exists to metrobus' original problem (posted September 2017):
Cancelling Transactions
If a merchant has processed a transaction, received an authorisation but then now wants to cancel the transaction or make a reversal, they must not process another immediate transaction.
For example, if there was a mistake with the transaction amount can be done, but the reversal has to be the next transaction that a merchant processes after the transaction that has to be cancelled. This means a merchant cannot process a transaction for another customer and then go back to cancel a previous transaction.
In this case, a merchant would have to make a refund rather than cancel the original transaction. This would mean that a merchant is processing two transactions and its acquirer will have negotiated how this will be charged.
http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/cards-transactions/transactional-processing.asp#content_13550 -
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